Giles Baths are a rock pool located on the northern headland of Coogee Beach in Dunningham Reserve and accessed by a set of stairs cut into the sandstone headland. It is
near the Bali Memorial and the entry portico from the original "Giles Gym and Baths" still remains.
The pool probably started as a natural collection of rooks that partially enclosed a piece of water. It used to be known as the "Bogey hole" and according to local lore
was used by male bathers in the nineteenth century. To this day, many locals still refer to it as the Mens' Baths (perhaps to differentiate it from Ladies Baths on
the other side of Coogee Bay.
History
During the early part of the 20th century, the baths were known as Lloyd's Baths because they were operated by a Mr. F. W. Lloyd. As early as 1899,
The Sydney Morning Herald (Thursday, 14 Sep 1899 Page 4) reported that Randwick Municipal Council heard a report that "winter had played great havoc
in the gentlemen's baths at Coogee, the basin being full of large rocks and boulders" and accepted the tender of the leasee, Mr. Lloyd, to carry out repairs.
The Giles Gym and Baths building on the headland was built in 1928 by Oscar Elias Giles (1877 to 1966), who took over as leasee of the baths, and these remained a prominent feature
of Coogee Beach until the end of the 20th century.
Giles Baths Building, 1988 Painting by Bryon Walden-Gold
The Baths were advertised as a health centre and offered electricity treatments, sweat boxes for weight loss, massage, hydrotherapy and hot sea baths as medical treatments.
Separate facilities were provided for men and women but the ocean pool and nude bathing was for men only and remained so for many years. An iron fence built along the rock
platform prevented normal beachgoers from using the pool, however, in later years it had fallen into disrepair and many people simply pushed aside rickety parts
of the fence to access to the pool.
Sportsmen, racing identities, criminals, police and well known politicians all mixed amiably at Giles baths.
In 1975 Messer's O'Neill, Motta and Stevens leased the premises until 1998. They redeveloped the building and added squash courts but retained the name Giles Baths.
After 1998 the building was left in disrepair and in the interest of public safety the building was demolished in 2000.
Personal Exploration
In the late 1990s, a friend and I, looking for a gym to join, asked the attendant if we could look over the facilities. Near the entrance was a gym with gym
equipment and a large hot tub being used by men and women, it was obviously no longer just a 'men's gym'. But nothing was in very good repair and the building was
obviously on its last legs. In exploring the buildings we came across empty rooms and disused squash courts that you had to pull the spider webs aside to enter.
At the end of the building we found a rickety door, and after a heave-ho, we tumbled into an area open to the sky and enclosed by a high wooden fence.
In the centre of this area was a memorial sun-dial dedicated in 1940 to Walter Alexander "Sam" Inglis. (See more about the Inglis Memorial
Sundial here), and the enclosed area where nude sunbakers enjoyed the sun's rays.
Footnote
I recently read a book by Tim Lenehan, Towards the Finishing Post : Memories and Reflections, the author, [Braidwood, NSW], 2016 ISBN9780648031901, in
which he relates his memories of Giles Baths from an earlier, late 1940s, era (see pages 47 to 50) and surprised me that they were not much different from my own.
